Exploring REITs for community-based retail development in China : a new strategy to create better places to live

Abstract

In the last decade, mainland China has encouraged diverse experiments of real estate asset securitization in different sub-sectors, such as rental, industrial, and retail markets. However, little research has focused on the community-based retail, and few experiments of community-based retail asset securitization have taken place. The paper attempts to propose a new strategy for China's community-based retail development, with the belief that, by utilizing innovative real estate securitization as an alternative financing tool, community-based retail development will exploit its economic and social potential to make better neighborhoods in cities. The paper will discuss the opportunities and the challenges in community-based retail development in China, examine the key features of alternative financing tools that could be utilized, and develop a hypothetical strategy to integrate these concepts and make an example of a feasible system for the applications of REITs in China's real estate market..